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Westford 'knight' ready for big screen

The Lowell Sun

Updated:
07/28/2013 12:31:49 PM EDT

From left, Westford author and history buff David Brody, and Amanda Rae Troisi of Lowell, Danielle Kellermann of Cambridge, and Kevin Cirone of Woburn, all actors in the feature film The American Templars, gather around the "boat stone" at the Westford Library, July 25, 2013. The film is based on Brody's novel, "Cabal of the Westford Knight," about the Scottish knight, Prince Henry Sinclair, thought to have explored North American before Columbus. The "boat stone" is thought to be evidence of his apparent visit to Westford 600 years ago. (SUN/Julia Malakie) (Julia Malakie)

WESTFORD -- A tale of intrigue, lost artifacts, American folklore and ties to the Knights Templar sounds more like the plot to a Nicolas Cage movie than a local legend told in a small New England town.

But Westford author David Brody said that's exactly what he found when he happened upon a local story so revealing and convincing, with its outlandish historical theories, that he had to write about it. This year, he said he's had the pleasant surprise of watching his fictional prose transform into a big-screen project, with the help of a New Jersey filmmaker and a mix of many locals playing a part.

The medium-sized budget film, "The American Templars," based on Brody's "Cabal of the Westford Knight," just wrapped up production and has been shipped to New Jersey for final production work and editing.

The film, about a national treasure hunt and a quest for knowledge almost in the same vein as "The Da Vinci Code" and "National Treasure," features dozens of Westford natives, Westford locations and some well-known New England monuments. It's due to be finalized in the fall.

The cast and crew were locally selected by director Michael Carr, who adapted Brody's book for the screen. Leading actors include Westford native Amanda Rae Troisi, who now lives in Lowell.

The group is anxiously awaiting to see if the film is picked up by a distributor upon its release, and hoping it may even place into a couple of international film festivals.

Brody began writing legal thrillers in 1989. One day his his young daughter came home from the Abbot School, talking about a story her teacher had told the class. She said an European prince came to America far before Christopher Columbus, and the legend says that prince ended up in Westford.

"If it's true, then that means Columbus was about 100 years late to the party," Brody said, "and Westford becomes a very important part of history."

Brody says according to the myth, a prince named Henry Sinclair of northern Scotland led an expedition across the sea in 1398, and eventually made his way down to Massachusetts. (For the non-history buffs out there, that's 94 years before Columbus landed on the East Coast.)

Brody said he's read that the prince insisted his team of men climb the highest hill -- Prospect Hill on Depot Street -- but one of the prince's knights died.

He is believed by some to have been James Gunn of the Knights Templar, though the timing doesn't exactly line up for that to be entirely accurate true, historians say.

At some point, an artifact was left behind in that area, perhaps by the prince and his crew just before the turn of the 15th-century.

A granite marker with a carving of a sword, and what some say looks like a knight's face and shield, remains today near the Westford center, though experts, of course, question the merits of this tale altogether.

Brody said the truth doesn't matter: It's a very cool story made better with a bit of creative license. Carr agrees and that's why he reached out to Brody with the idea of making this movie. The book was adapted by Carr for film, with some new characters and plot twists, but it stays mostly true to the original novel, and most importantly for Brody, the history.

"We're using real artifacts to tell an interesting treasure hunt story," Carr said. "The stuff we talk about, it's out there. Viewers can go see the boat stone in the Westford library. The can go see Newport Tower (in Rhode Island). People can look at it and then draw their own conclusions."

Brody noted the "boat stone" at the J.V. Fletcher Library plays a prominent role in the film, with a carved "knorr," or 14th century ship, on its face. Brody posed a goosebump-inducing question of why a Colonial would carve such an object in his day -- there has to be something behind these strange out-of-place objects left behind, he posed.

Rae Troisi, a 2003 Westford Academy graduate, said she can't wait to see what becomes of the film. She's enjoyed returning to her hometown to act.

"It was cool to shoot around all these places I had been to growing up, but they never really seemed special to me," she said

"I'm kind of having a new look at everything. I think it's pretty fascinating and I think the more we get it out there, the more people will be interested in this story."

She added, "Maybe there will even be a sequel."

Brody said the film could not have completed shooting without support from residents and businesses. Dozens of people participated, playing the extras and volunteering storefronts, town offices and parks as backdrop settings.

Watch for both police Lt. Ronald Paulaskas and former state Rep. Geoff Hall in cameos.

"We were able to shoot so many scenes, at the police station, the museum and the library, the Parish Center for the Arts, the East Boston campus, Mario's Restaurant, Connolly Insurance," Brody said. "The town has been so incredibly supportive of this whole thing and we really appreciate it."

Carr said he's hoping to announce plans for a Westford-centric premiere sometime later this year, too.

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